The U.S. has made “significant progress” on getting fast Internet service to rural areas, but “the broadband deployment and adoption gaps” remain “significant,” the FCC said in an update on rural broadband released Wednesday. Nearly 19 million rural Americans lack access to fixed broadband of at least 3 Mbps downstream and 768 kbps up, the commission said in its update to the 2009 rural broadband report. That population accounts for nearly three-quarters of the nation’s broadband “gap,” the report said. “Close to three out of ten rural Americans -- 28.2 percent -- lack access to fixed broadband at 3 Mbps/768 kbps or faster, a percentage that is more than nine times as large as the 3.0 percent that lack access in non-rural areas."
The FCC should give native tribes priority in allocating and licensing spectrum, create a special “Native Nations Broadband Fund” and take on a “tribal-centric” view of economic development, Native American groups said in comments in docket 11-41. The National Congress of American Indians, Native Telecom Coalition for Broadband, National Tribal Telecommunications Association, American Library Association and Alexicon Telecommunications Consulting endorsed some form of a broadband fund for tribes. “The FCC must take extraordinary measures to provide parity of communications service with non-Native communities,” the Tribal Telecom Association said in a joint filing with the Gila River Telecommunications Association. “Since the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act, only three Native governments have attained full regulatory self-provisioning [eligible telecommunications carrier] status.”
Frontier has already been given a chance to prove its case against disaggregating some of its coverage in Navajo tribal areas and hasn’t made a convincing argument, the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission said in reply comments posted to docket 09-197. In commenting on NTUA Wireless’ petition to become an eligible telecommunications carrier, Frontier said it had already disaggregated the White Mountains area and “any further disaggregation” following from NTUA’s petition “would impose high administrative burdens on it,” the Nation said in its filing. “First, Frontier provides absolutely no data as to the extent of any added administrative burdens in order to support its claim,” the Nation said. “Second, there are significant public policy reasons to disaggregate that portion of the White Mountains service area located within the Navajo Nation, reasons which outweigh any administrative burden placed on Frontier.” Furthermore, “disaggregation of this area is fully consistent with Navajo sovereignty and self-determination,” the Nation said.
Broadband is among the priorities of the new White House Rural Council established Thursday by President Barack Obama through an executive order. The council, which will include representatives of the FCC and the Agriculture and Commerce departments, will support Obama’s plan to expand broadband networks in rural areas, the White House said. Rural telecom companies praised the council’s focus on public-private partnerships to spread broadband. The council will provide recommendations for rural investment and increase coordination between government agencies involved with rural issues. It also will coordinate federal with state, local and tribal government efforts, and promote public-private partnerships, the White House said. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will chair the council. The executive order said the heads of the FCC, Commerce Department and 23 other federal departments and agencies will be on the group. Council members can designate a “senior-level official” as a proxy. Obama established the council as part of his strategy to “out-innovate” the rest of the world, Vilsack said in a conference call. The administration has done much already to help rural areas, including funding 330 broadband projects benefiting 10 million people in rural areas, he said. “It will be beneficial for the White House to get engaged in telecom policy and ensure that sustainable broadband is a national goal,” National Telecommunications Cooperative Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. “We will be working closely with Secretary Vilsack’s office as a primary stakeholder and resource for this initiative.” Windstream applauds the council’s “commitment to additional public-private partnerships as a means to strengthen rural communities, and we look forward to participating in the ongoing discussion,” said Windstream Senior Vice President Mike Rhoda.
Broadband is among the priorities of the new White House Rural Council established Thursday by President Barack Obama through an executive order. The council, which will include representatives of the FCC and the Agriculture and Commerce departments, will support Obama’s plan to expand broadband networks in rural areas, the White House said. Rural telecom companies praised the council’s focus on public-private partnerships to spread broadband. The council will provide recommendations for rural investment and increase coordination between government agencies involved with rural issues. It also will coordinate federal with state, local and tribal government efforts, and promote public-private partnerships, the White House said.
The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is designating an approved Native American Tribal Card issued by the Pascua Yaqui tribe to U.S. citizens as an acceptable travel document for purposes of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The approved card may be used to denote identity and U.S. citizenship of Pascua Yaqui members entering the United States from contiguous territory or adjacent islands at land and sea ports of entry. This designation is effective June 9, 2011.
Tribal carrier Gila River Telecom endorsed consultant Alexicon’s proposal to have broadband equipment categories included in high-cost loop support algorithms and to include middle-mile cost as a transmission cost (CD May 12 p11). The carrier said this in ex parte notices posted to the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation regime dockets. Gila River said about half of the residents on the reservation are unemployed and barely half have high school educations. “Approximately 84 percent of GRTI’s local telephone subscribers currently qualify for the Lifeline and Link Up programs, including 91 percent of GRTI’s elderly subscribers,” the group said. “Mobile wireless voice coverage is spotty in places through the Gila River Indian Community. In addition, 4G service is not available.” The telecom company said it’s delivering Internet service at a minimum speed of 1.5 Mbps for $52.90 per month. “The high cost of this service is due largely to GRTI’s high middle mile costs,” Gila River said. “The broadband adoption rate in the Gila River Indian Community is approximately 22 percent, which is higher than most other Tribal lands but significantly lower than the national average.”
The Department of Homeland Security has issued its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations, which is required under Executive Order 135361 and is part of the President’s plan to create a “21st-century regulatory system.”
The Department of Transportation announces that it has submitted its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review and Analysis of Existing Rules. As a result of its review, DOT has identified 70 regulations for action. Of these, 19 would reduce burdens on small businesses, 11 would reduce information collection burdens, 12 would reduce the burdens on state, local, or tribal governments, and four would involve coordinating rules that overlap with other federal agencies. The complete preliminary plan is available here.
The FCC needs to take “extraordinary measures” to address the need for deployment and use of spectrum on tribal lands, the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA) said in comments on an NPRM on that topic, released by the FCC in March. The NTTA was the only tribal group to file comments before last week’s deadline. Only eight commenters filed last week in docket 11-40.